On Tuesday 11 October I had a meeting with Fons Hickmann at his studio in Kreuzberg.

Fons cofounded his Berlin studio in 2001 following several years of study and work in Düsseldorf. Fons has an interesting educational background that has included the cerebral travels of philosophy and the aesthetic endeavours of photography and design. This exuberant pursuit of knowledge continues to be a fundamental concern for Fons and is integral to the success of the studio.

The studio has received plaudits for its work and has made its presence strongly felt within the European and international design communities. Its rapid rise to prominence has been fueled by the vibrant energy of Fons and his team. The physical space of the studio embodied this energy – one of the walls was graffitied with a gestural hand painted message while a ping-pong table also featured prominently.

Fons has a formidable schedule that sees him regularly travel to Vienna to supervise his famed design class at the prestigious University of Applied Arts and Institute for Design in Vienna. He jokingly described himself as something of a jetset professor.

 Fons explained that the success of his class stems from enjoyment. Everyone simply enjoys themselves and as a result they contribute effort. The structure Fons has established is relatively informal – the class occupies itself with internal experimental work and balances this with the pragmatism of external commercial commissions. So successful has the commercial side of the class been that the university has earned a significant profit from the efforts of the students. Furthermore, demand is so high that the class finds itself in an enviable position to choose the clients with whom it works.
Marco in Europe
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